


Don't we look smashing

by GhastlyDisco



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Carmilla Week, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-27
Updated: 2018-10-27
Packaged: 2019-08-08 09:02:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16426403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GhastlyDisco/pseuds/GhastlyDisco
Summary: What will Charlotte wear to the party?





	Don't we look smashing

You've resorted to searching your sister's closet while she—eager to help as always—goes through yours for anything you might've overlooked. All those ball gowns, what are they for if not a single one catches your eye?

"Charlotte! This is just the thing!" calls your sister on her way into the room.

When you step out of her closet, she's holding up a dusty old gown that would have been considered old-fashioned even when you were alive.

" **That?**  Passed on to me from some aunt! It's true I hope Ms. Callis isn't opposed to older women, but there's no need to go overboard."

"Obviously it could use some touching up. But Charlotte you look so good in white."

She knows exactly what to say, doesn’t she. “I do look good in white.”

* * *

"How is it going?" asks your sister when she hears you sigh for the thousandth time.

"I haven't left the house in a hundred years. How am I supposed to know what's in fashion?"

She comes and sits down next to you, takes the needle from your hand and puts it aside. "Have you considered going for what **you**  consider fashionable instead?"

"You know that was never my strong suit."

"So I'll help you," she smiles. "You saw what our guests were wearing. Seems like you can get away with anything nowadays. Maybe an opportunity to try something you wouldn't have gotten away with in the past?"

“Well, there is something I've imagined for a while.”

* * *

By the time you think the anticipation is becoming too much, Mel and the other guests finally enter the dining room. She makes a beeline toward you and compliments your white suit, made from the old dress.

You almost forget to respond—you're busy taking in Mel's own suit. She's foregone a jacket, leaving her silhouette on display, and you must admit it is a bit warm in here.

"Proud to be among the sharpest-looking ladies in a suit at this party," she says, even though technically it’s not a suit without the jacket.

"There's only us two."

She does an affectionate take on your accent, saying, "And don't we look **smashing**."

You laugh at her cocky smile, and then it's time to take your seats. You make sure to sit next to one another.

You can't remember the last time the house was this lively. Can't even remember the last time you smiled. But Mel keeps you smiling the whole evening. With her dry quips during dinner. When she asks you to call her Mel instead of Ms. Callis. When you take turns leading on the dance floor.

She makes your company when you step outside for a breath of air. The night is dark, but not cold.

"Do you want to go back inside?" she asks after a minute.

But now that it's just the two of you alone, you're not in a hurry to return to the party. "We have a garden behind the house. Let me show you."

The garden had been left unattended for many years, but with the awakening of you and the other ghosts, the grounds too has regained its luster. There's no one else, and the privacy of the bushes and hedges steers the conversation toward more private topics.

You wish the moment could last forever, but after the better part of an hour you find yourself saying, "My sister must wonder where I've gone."

Mel's face falls somewhat, and you scramble to clarify. You take her hand and drag her behind some rose bushes.

"Best stay out of sight."

Mel smiles conspiratorially, and it's contagious.

"Let's get away for awhile," she nods toward the path she and her friends first arrived on. "Go for a walk."

"I can't. We can't leave the grounds."

"Ghost rules?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so. But in spite of any rules, I'm glad I could come back here one last time, as long as it's just for a while."

"You're not mad about Fang Face disturbing your peaceful slumber?"

"Mel, I haven't had food for a hundred years. I'm not that mad."

She chuckles. "Anything else you've missed? There's time. Let's do it, I'll help."

You can tell that her offer is sincere, and that by the uncharacteristically open look on her face she's happy to help. That alone makes your heart thud, makes you feel more alive than you've felt since you returned to the house.

"I miss hiding together in the garden."

"And here we are."

"I miss... kissing behind a rose bush in bloom."

The woman of steel you first took her for is gone. She cups your face gently as she takes a step closer. And the two handsomest ladies in a suit kiss behind a rose bush in bloom.

**Author's Note:**

> Don't ask me how it's possible to turn a dress into a suit. Let's just say Charlotte is a master seamstress.


End file.
